Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

QWhat does 'temperature zones' mean?

ATemperature zones refers to the capability of the wine cooler to have 2 different temperatures set in different areas of the appliance. This is helpful for storing different types of wines together at their optimal temperatures, without having to compromise on a common temperature.

QWhat capacity do I need for my wine cooler?

AThat very much depends on how much wine you store/drink at one time! Most households are probably not going to need more than a 15-20 bottle unit. However if you are an avid collector, or supplying a restaurant, you're going to want something far more sizable!

Wine Cooler Buying Guide

A wine cooler is a specialist fridge specifically designed for storing wine bottles, to allow them to be stored safely at the optimal temperature. They are a step up from a bottle store in your fridge - if you find your bottle collection taking over much of the fridge, or if you want your wine cooled to a very specific temperature, it may be time to invest in one of these appliances.

Wine coolers vary dramatically in their bottle capacity, and how much wine you want to store at once will large dictate your buying choice. Our coolers range from very small 2-bottle coolers - effectively very efficient ice buckets - to enormous cabinets that can hold 300 bottles at once. Coolers also vary enormously in their shape and the number of shelves/baskets they contain - some will allow wine to be stacked closely on top of each other for maximum storage room, others concentrate on less storage, but display the bottles in a more aesthetically pleasing way.

Temperature Control

One of the biggest benefit of a specialised wine cooler is that you can set the temperature to whatever you want - allowing you to keep your wine stored at a different temperature than the rest of your food in the fridge. This is helpful, because certain types of wine favour different temperature ranges, both for storing and drinking.

More advanced (and therefore, expensive) wine coolers also have separate temperature zones. You can set the temperatures in these zones independently of each other, allowing even more flexibility in storing your wine.

The top-range coolers may even have a humidifier unit installed - this allows a high degree of control as to the storage humidity for your bottles. Humidity control is important to keep expensive wines in top condition for long periods of time: too much humidity, and mold may form on the bottles. On the other hand, too little humidity could cause the corks of your bottles to dry out. While humidity control may substantially increase the price of a wine cooler, it may be worth the extra investment if your wine collection is particularly rare and expensive.

Built In Freezer

Some wine coolers also have a separate freezer section - this can be helpful for storing ice and whiskey cubes to chill the wine while you drink it, or a sneaky carton of ice-cream!

Alarm System

Higher-tier wine coolers may have an alarm system - either a visual or aural alarm that goes off when the temperature strays outside it’s set boundaries. This can be very helpful for warning you if the door is ajar, there is a power failure, or some other problem that could threaten the climate of your cooler.

Finally, our wine coolers are graded on their energy efficiency. The higher the grade, the less energy will be used while the cooler is running, and the cheaper it will be to run. Look for a wine cooler graded at A or above for the best efficiency in daily use.

Wine Cooler Retailers, Prices and Features

Cooler Prices

In total we found 71 wine coolers ranging from £49 to £3,999. The average price of a new wine cooler is £842 and 80% of wine coolers are priced between £200 and £1,999. The cheapest cooler that we found is the Essentials CWC8B15 at only £50, and the most expensive is the Liebherr WTPES 5972 Vinidor at £3,999.

Cooler Brands - Price Range

Miele wine coolers range in price from £1,749 to £2,549, and the average price of Miele wine coolers is £2,199 which is the highest average price of all wine cooler brands.

Liebherr wine coolers start at £881 and their most expensive cooler costs £3,999. The average price of Liebherr wine coolers is £1,663 which is the second highest average price of all cooler brands.

The third highest average cooler price out of all brands is Smeg coolers with an average price of £1,331. Smeg coolers start at £349 and their most expensive cooler costs £2,029.

Wine Cooler Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 165 user cooler reviews written online and used this data to evaluate the average rating for each brand of cooler. The top three wine cooler brands are Haier, Magic Chef and Husky. Haier has an average rating of 90%, Magic Chef has an average rating of 89% and Husky has an average rating of 83%.

Biggest Cooler Retailers

The biggest wine cooler retailer by number of products currently for sale is Currys. We found 26 current wine cooler offers from Currys. The second biggest wine cooler retailer is Appliances Direct with 14 offers. That means Currys is much bigger than Appliances Direct when it comes to coolers. The Kitchen Appliance Store is the third biggest retailer with 14 current offers.

When Are Most New Wine Coolers Released?

Most new coolers tend to be released between March and May. If you want the latest wine cooler features you may be best waiting until March 2018. It's also worth keeping in mind that the price of the current coolers tend to drop off when the next models are released. 26 new coolers were released in March 2017 making it the biggest month that year for new cooler releases. May was the biggest month in 2016 for new coolers, with 11 new coolers released that month. The biggest month in 2015 for new cooler releases was July, with 26 new coolers released that month.

How Fast Do Cooler Prices Drop After Release?

On average, in the first 6 months after release, wine coolers drop in price by 2%. That means that on a typical wine cooler costing £842 you could save on average £16 by waiting 6 months before buying.

Bottle Capacity

This denotes the maximum number of bottles the wine cooler is capable of holding at once.

The bottle capacity of wine coolers range from 1bottle(s) to 592bottle(s). The bottle capacity of the majority of coolers range from 1bottle(s) to 28bottle(s). The CapleWF1548, which is available at £1,614.00, has the biggest bottle capacity and is a 592bottle(s) bottle capacity cooler. The wine cooler with the smallest bottle capacity is the CapleWF1548, which is a 7bottle(s) bottle capacity wine cooler and currently retails for £189.00.

More bottles means a larger storage capacity, which means more wine can be stored and chilled.

Temperature Zones

'Temperature zones' are separate parts of the wine cooler, which can all be set to differing temperatures.

Across the range of wine coolers, the temperature zones range from 1 to 3. The temperature zones of most wine coolers range from 1 to 2. The wine cooler with the most temperature zone is the CapleWF1548, which is a 3 temperature zone cooler and can be purchased for £1,614.00. The cooler with the least temperature zone is the CapleWF1548, which is a 1 temperature zone wine cooler and is on sale for £1,149.00.

Different temperature zones are helpful if you are storing several different types of wine, all of which have different optimal storage temperatures. This will help you best store all of them at once.

Colours

The most popular colour amongst new wine coolers is Black. We found 62 wine coolers that are wine coolers that have a Black coloured. Stainless steel is the second most frequently found colour amongst new wine coolers. We found 22 wine coolers that are wine coolers that have a Stainless steel coloured.

Case Designs

We found 76 coolers that are wine coolers that have a freestanding Case design, which makes freestanding the most popular case design amongst new coolers. We found 38 wine coolers that are wine coolers that have a built-in Case design, making built-in the second most frequently found case design amongst new wine coolers.

Energy Efficiency of Wine Coolers

We found 125 wine coolers that have an energy efficiency rating of A+, which makes this the most frequently found energy efficiency rating amongst new wine coolers. A is the second most popular energy efficiency rating amongst new wine coolers. We found 125 wine coolers that have an energy efficiency rating of A.

Biggest Cooler Retailers

The biggest wine cooler retailer by number of products currently for sale is Currys. We found 26 current wine cooler offers from Currys. The second biggest wine cooler retailer is Appliances Direct with 14 offers. That means Currys is much bigger than Appliances Direct when it comes to coolers. The Kitchen Appliance Store is the third biggest retailer with 14 current offers.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Wine Coolers?

With the cheapest price on 14 coolers, Currys is most frequently the cheapest wine cooler retailer.

Proportion of Coolers for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

The cheapest retailer by number of wine cooler for which they offer the cheapest price is Currys with the cheapest price on 53.8% of its wine coolers.